"The artifex verborum of the dream ... was no less adept than the waking Coleridge in the metamorphosis of words." — John Livingston Lowes, The Road to Xanadu.Observations on language (mostly ancient), religion, and culture.
By Edward M. Cook, Ph.D.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Nine Eleven

And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.-Mark 13:2

Well, God is in heavenAnd we all want what's hisBut power and greed and corruptible seedSeem to be all that there is.—Bob Dylan, "Blind Willie McTell"

Defenseless under the nightOur world in stupor lies;Yet, dotted everywhere,Ironic points of lightFlash out wherever the JustExchange their messages:May I, composed like themOf Eros and of dust,Beleaguered by the sameNegation and despair,Show an affirming flame.—W. H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"

Of course, we know that God would never judge America for its idolization of power, pride and greed. He would never use evil people to destroy symbols of America's idolatry. Americans are, after all, the chosen people. God is love (just love) and exists to help his people achieve the American dream. So if that is what the intent had been, it would have been blasphemy. That is, unless the God of Israel is the living God. He's quite a different sort of chap than the impotent, pandering God of America's civic religion.

At once, I associated the sight of the towers with the beautiful hymn 482 of our hymnal, which starts with "The last will be the first". The fourth stanza: The lowest will rise, the towers will fall, the word is to the deaf, the truth is to the dream". Everybody had his or her own association, whether logical or not. Our Rolf (then 4 years old) watched the Terror in New York City episode of The Thunderbirds (in which the Empire State building falls down) five times in the following days, avoiding all questions about it.